Just yesterday I spoke of the disappointing up day, but today it was a completely different story. Today the major indices finished very near their session highs and had a terrific follow through from yesterday's tepid rally. The Dow finished the day higher by 94 points. The Nasdaq charged higher by 37 points, or 1.48%. The more broadly based S&P 500 finished higher by 15 points, or 1.06%.
Basic materials, technology, and energy stocks were the strongest groups in today's trading.
Basic material stocks jumped nearly across the board. Vale (NYSE:RIO) gained 4.2% on the session, and hit a new 52 week high. Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:PCU) jumped 4.69% and Freeport McMoran (NYSE:FCX) gained 3.66% as part of a very strong mining group. Gold stocks were also very strong, with Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) and Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) gaining 5.28% and 3.71% respectively.
Tech stocks were also very strong today. VMware (NYSE:VMW) shares surged higher by 8.69% on heavy volume. VMW shares have gained an astonishing 39.37% in the last month. MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE:WFR) shares gained another 3.37% today, continuing its recent strength. NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq:NVDA) shares jumped by 7.75% on heavy volume today. Garmin (Nasdaq:GRMN) put in its second consecutive very strong day, gaining 5.38% on the session. Marvell Technology (Nasdaq:MRVL) gained 5.7% in today's session.
Energy stocks also had a nice day despite oil finishing just about flat for the day today. Transocean (NYSE:RIG), which as RSS Feed readers know, is my favorite energy name, jumped 5.57% on the day today after a $201 target was set at UBS. Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) gained 5% on the day and hit a new 52 week high. Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI), which has been one of the main laggards in the energy group, moved higher by 3.14% today. Diamond Offshire Drilling (NYSE:DO) surged 4.65% on heavy volume today.
52 week highs
- Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Surged 7.84% on huge volume to hit a new high.
- Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) Gained 2.01% on the session
- Activision (Nasdaq:ATVI) Gained another 2.98% today, and shares have now surged 61.4% in the last 6 months.
- Cleveland Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) What an amazing run this stock has had! It has now gained 156% in the last year.
Today's trading was very encouraging to market strategists and investors that were worried that yesterday's weak close could lead to a down day today. The Dow is within a few points of the key 13,000 level. Pay close attention to see if when it hits that mark it accelerates to the upside, or sells off quickly.
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